Thursday, May 11, 2006

Once in a Lifetime

Dear Supporters, Friends, Readers, Media and Newcomers to the Nall for Governor Campaign,

It's 10:16 pm on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 and despite being about half-dead and near collapse I am still locked in a 7 day battle with insomnia. I look it too. Today a friend of mine asked me, in a rather serious tone, if someone had blacked my eyes.

I'm having trouble trying to sleep I'm counting sheep but running out As time ticks by And still I try No rest for crosstops in my mind

On my own... here we go

My eyes feel like they're gonna bleed Dried up and bulging out my skull My mouth is dry My face is numb Fucked up and spun out in my room

On my own... here we go

My mind is set on overdrive The clock is laughing in my face A crooked spine My sense dulled Passed the point of delerium ~ Green Day 'Brain Stew'

Sometimes...no matter how tired you are you just cannot shut your mind off.

The last month of my life on the campaign trail has been a whirlwind and goes a little something like this.

On May 1, I spoke at two different immigration reform rallies. One at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and one at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Montevallo, AL. As a Libertarian I support the workers who are already here and do not wish to see them targeted by police if all they are doing is working hard and taking care of their families. Being anti-immigrant is Un-American. We need to reform immigration laws and make it a fairer process and then there would not be so many coming across the border illegally.

I gotta take a minute here and give props to three very key people who helped perpetuate this story across the internet and eventually turned it into a flash animation and a media storm. Don Siebold, who, although not necessarily a supporter of mine, I have become quite fond of him. Don, after reading this story (and the one about the panties...or lack thereof) decided he would pass it on to some Alabama bloggers. Then this cat named BlueGal in Birmingham picked it up and posted it over at Daily Kos. It spread like wildfire from there. I've since met BlueGal for lunch and, just like her website says, "She Rocks!"

Then my friend, supporter and de-facto campaign manager Stephen Gordon after reading all of the fascinating responses and conversations this story was generating, came up with the idea of the flash animation as a way to raise money for the campaign. Props are also in order to Flash Booty for putting the animation together for me. Check them out if you need something done.

Then things hit the national level and I got a call from The Alan Colmes Show. I appeared as a guest on Monday, May 8, 2006 at 10 pm. I am working to get a copy of the broadcast.

From May 5 to May 9 I ranked in the top 10 at Technorati holding the #1 position for over 24 hours on Monday, May 8. This was at a time when the CIA director Porter Goss mysteriously resigned, Rep. Patrick Kennedy got into a drunken brawl with a traffic barrier and Stephen Cobert was getting some much deserved love form the world for his address at the White House Press Correspondents Dinner. Holding those positions for that amount of time is impressive to say the least.

Yesterday, I received the following email from a friend of mine in Washington, D.C.

Congrats, L!!!!

MSNBC just did a piece on you by the senior producer on how influential your website has been on the on the drug policy debate!!!! I'm watching it in the bank and you got a couple of smiles in support.

Way to go!

I had no idea MSNBC had picked up the story. Despite hours of searching their site for the clip and trying to establish contact with someone in their studio I have come up empty handed. I have not seen the video and it is about to drive me MAD STIMPY!!! MAD I TELL YOU!!!

Later on, when I spoke with my friend, she went into more detail about the piece. Apparently it was on a new show featuring Alison Stewart called 'The Most'. It does not seem to have it's own website and was launched on May 1, 2006. The senior producer is the one who did the narration of the segment. He talked a little about my history and how I got into politics, my progressive platform and how my website has influenced the drug policy debate and my flash for cash campaign.

Then to be fair he showed a 'libertarian' blog which carried this story, which for some odd reason decided to trash me in a really nasty manner instead of challenging me on the issues. I won't post that blog here because I refuse to allow them to mooch any more traffic off of my hard work. Trashing someone whom you have never met in a way so juvenile and undignified, just to boost ones own visibility is Internet Welfare. If you aren't interesting enough on your own merit to generate media coverage and internet traffic then tough tittie. Accept the fact that you suck and move on to something else.

I believe this particular seeker of Internet Welfare Traffic learned his lesson though. He got slammed pretty hard by the Nall for Governor faithful and closed comments on the site. But only after he got in a good whine about getting smacked around for being a prick. Serves you right.Internet Welfare is UN-LIBERTARIAN!

I just found this. No video though. I was told earlier today that the video will be available in about a week.

Alabama gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall is getting a lot of attention for her Flash for Cash site on which contributing to her campaign gets you a peek at a cartoon representation of her exposing herself. (Or so it would seem. I didn't actually pay for any peeps to find out.) Given the Mary Carey candidacy, it's easy to assume this is another joke candidate, but in fact, her more official site is more serious and I get the impression the Flash for Cash gimmic is more about making fun of how she's being treated by the local media.

The Technorati ratings have generated a huge number of blog postings about my campaign. I have found the vast majority of them to be overwhelmingly positive and supportive. These new readers also seem to enjoy reading my articles as much as everyone else who has read them. It's fascinating to read all of the blog entries and look at what perspective people are viewing my story from and learning where people are on the issues that my candidacy and my entry into the political arena have brought to the forefront.

Some people come at it from the drug policy reform angle, others from a First and Fourth Amendment angle, some from the ballot access angle and I even had one gal give me make-up tips...and while I appreciate the gesture I have to say I like the way I apply my make-up just fine, thank you very much. I really got a kick out of that one...I admit it and I hope that if the writer of that post is reading this that she understands there is no anger behind these words.

I have had quite a few new invites to speak around the state in the last week.

The Univesity of Montevallo has invited me to speak there on November 2, 2006. That is just five days before the election.

However, the biggest thing happening in the Nall for Governor Campaign right now is that we have hired professional fundraisers and ballot access petitioners to come here and help me raise the money needed to collect ballot access signatures as well as collect the signatures. Two of them will be here on Thursday evening and the third will arrive on Friday. If I get my name on the ballot I will win the election in Alabama.

I find myself reflecting these days on how many people ever get to experience what I am currently experiencing? Not many I would guess. You have to really WANT to be elected to office and most people are so disgusted with politics as usual that entering the political arena is about the fartherest thing from their mind. Those that do wish to enter the political arena usually do so at a much lower level of government and most of them are never able to garner the attention and traction in their campaigns than I have have been able to produce with my low budget Common Sense Campaign.

Most people never know the joy of having thousands of people, tens of thousands of people, in the US and across the globe believe wholeheartedly in what you are trying to accomplish. People who are pinning some of their hopes for a better world on you and trust you to make them a reality. It is an awesome and wonderful burden to be given.

Thanks and much love to my many supporters and fans across the globe. Your support and encouragement is truly something that only happens Once in a Lifetime>

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shackAnd you may find yourself in another part of the worldAnd you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobileAnd you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautifulWifeAnd you may ask yourself - well...how did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me downLetting the days go by/water flowing undergroundInto the blue again/after the money’s goneOnce in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourselfHow do I work this?And you may ask yourselfWhere is that large automobile?And you may tell yourselfThis is not my beautiful house!And you may tell yourselfThis is not my beautiful wife!

Nall for Governor

Medical Marijuana Blogs

Dr.Tom's Medical Marijuana Blog
Med MJ blog by an MD; it's focused mainly on the surprising implications of what he's learned
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It's based on a study of those hoping to be designated as "medical"
in accordance with California's much misunderstood law.